Travels in Romania

Translators of the Romanian national poet Mihai Eminescu travelled to Constanta, on the shores of the Black Sea, to be present at the unveiling of his statue mid-August 1934. Among them was the English activist Sylvia Pankhurst with her Italian husband and their seven-year-old son Richard. He recalls: "She fell in love with Romania, its beautiful countryside and fine peasant costumes, and spent many happy days admiring the Byzantine-style paintings in its medieval churches. As a child I found these inspections in the summer heat almost unending. . . ." The Pankhursts studiously collected folklore picture postcards and photos, which are now at the IISH.